Think of something that you absolutely have to do every day. You may not particularly enjoy doing it, but it’s part of your life so if you have not done it, it would feel completely wrong to have lost it.
For me, the thing is to brush your teeth. I’d really rather proud of my oral hygiene and the strength of my teeth. I do not have any fillings and apart from the nag wisdom tooth a few years ago, I had no major issues with them. I feel very lucky as I remember a friend who woke up one morning and dropped her front tooth out. This would have been fine if she was 6 years old, but at the end of 40’s and it was quite a shock!
She could not go to work that day she had to go to the dentist to get a temporary tooth until a dentist had done it again. That for me is the stuff of nightmares – I actually dream of losing your teeth and wake up to find myself checking that they are all there! I’m not saying that my friend did not bother to brush her teeth, some are other influencers, but they kind of stories make me all the more dedicated to brush your pearly whites me at least twice a day, and leaves me with a sense of guilt and worry if I do not.
So how does bushing teeth relate to practice?
It’s simple really. When I began the exercise routine that I have (and continue to) admit that it was probably one of the most difficult routine to stick to. It hurt, I was hot, out of breath and I’d rather be at home watching Netflix. Or even work, I would actually rather work than exercise.
More than that I did not like was pretty angry people who were on their way there every day as if they were off to church to pray to God sweat. My mother reminded me even when I was younger I would say I would never go because I did not want to breathe in other sweat air!
You can see that I was not really on board with the idea gym at all!
So how did I crack this resistance? It was really quite simple. I stopped trying to be one of those who loved it, I cease to be one of those who hated it and instead I thought of it as something that I just have to do regularly, like brushing your teeth.
Sometimes I could be in a rush and brush your teeth could be seen as time zapping activity, but I would never not do it. I just have to. Now that I think about going home at night instead of going to the gym, I have the same feeling as if I were to choose not to brush your teeth. It feels wrong to decide where I can avoid doing something that I know I have to do more than that, I’d feel like I’d let myself down if I did not.
So what you do in your life regularly, if you do not do it, it would give you that feeling of the day to be a little strange or intermittent? Tune in to the feeling you get when you think about doing it and start to learn the formula for what you think. Later, when you want to go to the gym (or wish to prevent it) song again feeling like you thing about the gym and notice how you feel compelled to get in and take action. Now get to the gym!